The veggie side of life

How does Druker's score on the vegetarian scale?

By ASI GAL
drukers 88 (photo credit: )
drukers 88
(photo credit: )
Like Martin Luther King, I have a dream. I have a dream that all food eaters are treated equally, and that every chef's restaurant will offer the same amount of vegetarian dishes as meat dishes. I realize that my dream is naïve. So, until then, I have a smaller dream: to survey the status of vegetarian dishes at various restaurants in the hope that some chefs will take heed and put more effort into dishes that I, along with my herb eating colleagues, can enjoy. The first place to be put under the microscope is Druker's, a bistro well-reviewed within these pages. Druker's has two vegetarian starters and one vegetarian main course. Not a large variety, but at least the main course is not the usual sweet potato ravioli. Rather, they serve a truffle and arugula linguine (NIS 60). From the starters though, Druker's did go for the banal, serving eggplant in tehina (NIS 35) - albeit the eggplant was one of the best I'd had (though my dining partner did not like it as much). I was more thrilled with the forest mushroom fricassee (NIS 44) - a full plate of wild mushrooms with a hint of truffle and goats cheese fried with a filo dough covering. Verdict: so very delicious. The pasta was less invigorating. The first bites were exciting, but since the pasta is cooked in butter and without sauce it creates a quick itch on the pallet and I could not finish it. Since my dining partners had meat I will make note of it. They loved the crab bisque (NIS 42), their veal was rubbery and the shrimps were amazing (NIS 120). From the desserts we loved the cream puffs filled with crème patissiere and my chocoholic-dining partner loved the chocolate mousse (NIS 27). Also on offer were two vegetarian salads that I did not try and a great bread, which I did. All in all, I'd give Druker's a 3 out of 5 on the vegetarian scale - if anyone will allow me to use such a scale. Druker's, 17 Montefiori St., Tel Aviv, (03) 566-3535. Open Sunday to Saturday from noon to last customer.